AKMA’s Random Thoughts

Quickly, Now

I'm trying to clear my email inbox today—you know, the inbox I was also going to try to clear a couple of weeks ago. So under this heading, I’ll list a bunch of noteworthy items that I haven’t been able to grapple with in extenso.

• Jeneane gets merited space in the New York Times. Although the article appears with a picture of the author with her lovely daughter and new kitten, the reporter’s angle muffles Jeneane’s particular voice, which is a shame (the muffling, not the voice). And when the article reports links to “blogs by men,” the Times reporter listed the same old suspects. Top-notch fringe benefit: this picture of Jenna and Hunter.


• I’ve been meaning for months, now to acknowledge that body upon whom bloggers are deeply dependent, namely readers. Their importance was driven home to me during the Digital ID World Conference, at which Elliott Noss regaled several of us with his long list of reasons for not blogging. Some involved company politics, and others involved time and liability, but his A-number-one reason for not blogging was that he felt it was time for someone to stand up for readers. Elliott suggested a BlogReaders Liberation Front or something like that, but before anyone answers the clarion call to take direct action I want to bow publicly to Elliott and to other deliberate readers, without whom we bloggers would simply form a closed circle of mutual admiration. Tonight at dinner, I will lift a glass in honor of Elliott, of my beloved Margaret, and all the other readers who encourage us to keep on blogging. (I should mention that the “Disseminary” domain name is registered courtesy of Tucows, through Elliott’s intercession—so if anyone wants to construe this as grovelling, she or he has exactly that much ground for suspicion.)


• Readers with long memories and too little to think about may remember that I had written an essay on the future of biblical interpretation. The book for which that essay had been solicited, though, was not finding a print publisher. At the SBL meeting, though, Robert Fowler (the volume’s editor) suggested that a contract was near, and yesterday I got a Thanksgiving message that Trinity Press International would publish New Paradigms in Biblical Interpretation sometime very soon. Now we’ll see whether the legal eagles make me take down the online version of my article.


• One morning in the book display of the SBL, somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, “AKMA?”
  This is not that uncommon; a lot of us know one another strictly from books and articles, or we met once a long time ago in a different context, or have been pointed to one another by some third party who thinks we should talk. So I turned, nodded, and my interlocutor said, “Hi, I’m Arni Danielsson, from Iceland. I read your blog.”
  This was a first for me, at a professional meeting at least. Arni and I had a short but good talk about the ideals I’m trying to help bring to reality in the Disseminary, and some ventures on which he’s working in Iceland. Blogaria at its best: thinking and dreaming and actualizing together, in remote geographic locations. Greetings, Arni!


• Clifton Healy has started writing online. One more [former] student to the blogs!